Georgia seniors in position for dream ending

Reporter

The 2011 Georgia seniors are having a hard time thinking of better circumstances to play their final game at Sanford Stadium.

The Bulldogs can secure a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game with a win today against Kentucky. If Georgia wins, it would be an amazing feat of symmetry for a class that joined a Bulldogs team ranked No. 1 in the nation.

“It’s been a special ride here,” Georgia punter Drew Butler said. “I really wouldn’t want my senior year to go any other way. If you would have asked me when I first got here if my Senior Day game was going to be for an SEC East title, I couldn’t have thought of anything better. It’s about the best way I can think of to go out. We’ve been on a wonderful run this year and this is a special opportunity.”

Georgia (8-2, 6-1 SEC) will celebrate its seniors when it plays Kentucky (4-6, 1-5) at noon today. If the Bulldogs win, they clinch the SEC East title and a berth in the conference championship game next week in the Georgia Dome — the same venue where they lost to Boise State, 35-21, to open the season.

The defining factor for this senior class might be its resilience during a roller-coaster career. The redshirts came to Athens when Georgia went to the Sugar Bowl after the 2007 season. The four-year seniors were on the team when Georgia began the 2008 season ranked No. 1 in the nation. But the good times did not last as Georgia fell off its pace and eventually slid to a 6-7 mark last year, the first losing season in Mark Richt’s 11-year tenure.

“We’re a group of guys who came in on top,” tight end Aron White said. “But we feel like we’ve been down and dipped through the ringer through the Seven Rings of Hell at times since we’ve been here. But we’ve kind of clawed and scratched and fought our way back out of that and back up towards the top. Depending on what happens this season, we could be very close to the very top.

“As a legacy, we’re the team that kind of jeopardized our coaches and this program to a degree. We let some people go and banded together. That’s going to speak a lot to how we’re remembered here, as a group of guys who never gave up, a group of guys who no matter what was said, stuck together.”

NO WORRIES

When Georgia began the season with two straight losses, including the conference opener to South Carolina (45-42), the team had an excuse to give up. A downward spiral had stretched across three seasons and critics wondered aloud whether new blood was needed to revitalize the program.

But Georgia’s seniors took charge of the situation.

“The biggest thing is (the seniors) didn’t get worried,” redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Chris Burnette said. “We lost those first two games and I think part of the culture around here may have been that when we start losing, to start shutting it down. But that didn’t happen with them. They didn’t care, it was about us getting ready for the next game and not dwelling on the past because we can’t control what happened in the past. They just steered the ship in the right direction and all we had to do was follow.

“That’s just a testament to the kind of guys we have and the character they have in that class. They weren’t going to just let us shut it down like that. They understood that we had a mission and a goal and in order for us to do it, we had to focus and we couldn’t worry about what happened the first two weeks.”

Since that floundering start, Georgia has reeled off eight straight wins and beaten major SEC rivals Tennessee, Florida and Auburn in the same season for the first time since 1981.

“It’s big, you couldn’t draw it up any better,” fullback Bruce Figgins said. “It’s about how you finished and not how you started. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. We work hard and our team works hard and we’ve stayed together. It’s the small things that matter that people on the outside looking in don’t even see.”

The senior class includes three starting offensive linemen — Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn and Justin Anderson — starting fullback Figgins, starting defensive end DeAngelo Tyson and starting cornerback Brandon Boykin, plus four-year kicking specialists Blair Walsh and Butler. White, who redshirted his first season, has already graduated with a management degree and gave a speech during last December’s commencement.

“We absolutely have been through some ups and downs,” Walsh said. “The culture has changed completely since we came in four years ago, and I think for the better. Obviously we’re in a position to win the SEC East if we take care of business and beat Kentucky. We haven’t been in that position since I’ve been here, so it’s a positive thing. I think our class has contributed so many positive things through the years. If you just look at the number of guys who start and who contribute and play, it’s amazing.”

SOOTHING SEASON

The 2011 seniors started their first season where they wanted to end it, near the top. They rode through peaks and valleys that included heartbreaking and record-setting losses to Florida and a humbling bowl defeat to Central Florida. But the end of their careers could make the tough times easier to stomach.

“It’s weird because last year, me and Sanders Commings went to the SEC championship game and watched Auburn and South Carolina play,” receiver Israel Troupe said. “I remember we both said that we wanted to play in this game and we were going to do what we could to get a chance to play in this game. Now everything is falling into place for us to have a chance to play in that game. It’s just weird how that works out. You couldn’t ask for a better way to end your career.”

Another key component for this year’s seniors is their longevity. Jones, Glenn, Butler and Walsh are four-year starters. Tyson, White and Figgins have been major contributors since they were freshmen.

The road has not always been smooth, but that makes getting to the destination feel so much better.

“To turn this program around and have a chance to win the SEC East, that’s the biggest, most drastic change people have seen in a while,” Jones said. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of, winning the SEC. I was hoping I’d win it more than once. But this year, my senior year, and we can clinch it at home on Senior Night and my whole family is going to be here, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Last year was rough for the players, coaches and everything. This year, we wanted to make a statement and turn this thing around and get Georgia back on track and I think we’ve done that. But we’ve got to finish it this weekend. This weekend is the biggest game of the year.”